Strengthened Bond
by klutzysunshine
Summary: DJ offers to be Stephanie's surrogate, and the sisters' bond strengthens as a result.


**Fuller House doesn't belong to me nor will it ever. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

DJ's selfless offer to be her surrogate shouldn't have surprised Stephanie but it threw her for a loop anyway. Her sister had experienced pregnancy three times before and seemed to talk positively about it but to willingly go through it a fourth time? Stephanie couldn't wrap her head around it. With Jimmy on board, the three of them talked it out first before deciding to tell the rest of the family. While DJ remained optimistic about getting pregnant, Stephanie chose to be pessimistic because nothing really tended to work out for her and she didn't want to get her hopes up. But when the doctor called and informed them that it had worked, Stephanie burst into tears and welcomed the group hug. And now six weeks into it, morning sickness had struck and they were all seeing the unglamorous side of pregnancy. "You chose to do this four times?" an amazed (and guilty) Stephanie questioned after yet another trip to the bathroom.

A miserable and tired DJ nodded. "Of course I did! I love being pregnant and you'll see that the end result is absolutely worth it."

Jimmy grimaced. "We're sorry, DJ." He also felt guilty and kept apologizing to her.

She waved it off yet again. "Jimmy, stop apologizing. I'm happy to be doing this for you two."

Kimmy snorted. "Step down from yesterday's 'thrilled' so nice job, you guys!" she chimed in. She was excited to meet the newest member of the family, however, and already determined to help them pick out names (neither of them wanted her help in that department, however).

DJ paled again, which caused Stephanie to wince and follow her back into the bathroom. They repeated this until the end of the first trimester.

* * *

Once the morning sickness finally ended, DJ fell in love with pregnancy all over again. "I still can't believe my baby's in there." With her sister's permission, Stephanie reached out and palmed her swelling abdomen. "This is so fucking weird."

"Language!" DJ chided.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Deej, really? We all grew up with three men. Do you really expect me to not swear? Get used to it," she teased.

"I'm only saying it because your baby's growing inside of me and you don't want their first word to be a swear word. Wait, who am I kidding? This is your kid," DJ teased right back.

She only shrugged. "Eh, you're probably right anyway."

Jimmy popped up out of nowhere, terrifying them both. "How's our baby doing?"

"How many times have we told you not to do that?" DJ scolded.

"Yeah, you can't scare the shit out of the kid before they even get here." Stephanie leaned over and kissed her boyfriend. "Nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too," he murmured when they pulled apart. "Seriously, are you both feeling okay?" he asked DJ.

"We're fine. Thanks for asking." DJ yawned. "This pregnancy is taking a lot out of me. Think I'll nap before heading into work."

Stephanie bit her lip. "I can't stop worrying about them. This is going to be the next eighteen years of our life, isn't it?"

"Probably." Jimmy wasn't going to worry about it right now - or at least he was trying not to. It wasn't working out very well.

She playfully slapped him across the shoulder. 'Shut up! You're not supposed to agree with me."

"Then sorry?" On tenuous ground lately because the future terrified the hell out of him, Jimmy was still struggling to adjust. But he couldn't wait to meet the baby and become a father. And doing this with Stephanie - the woman he loved - was absolutely amazing. They were definitely going to rock parenthood.

* * *

Six months into DJ's pregnancy, the whole family struggled to get ready for the new baby's arrival. Preparing the basement for a baby wasn't exactly easy but they all managed to figure it out. With three months to go, Stephanie and Jimmy were still both completely unprepared for how their world was about to change but they figured with the support of their family, they'd manage to not fuck everything up. "Aunt Stephanie, have you guys figured out a name yet?" questioned Jackson.

"Not yet," she admitted. Neither of them wanted to choose a name until they met the baby in case it didn't fit. DJ - who had chosen all three of her sons' names prior to delivery - was freaking out about this and insisting they plan everything as much as possible.

"You really need to, Aunt Stephanie," added Max.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at her nephews. "Your mom put you two up to this, didn't she?"

"No?" Jackson lied, trying his best (and failing) to look innocent.

"Of course not!" Max also lied.

Ramona rolled her eyes at their antics. "I think you should wait until the perfect moment, Stephanie. It's your baby." She couldn't understand DJ's impatience, although she too was excited to meet the baby (just not looking forward to the house getting even more crowded).

"Thanks, Ramona! At least you're loyal, unlike two certain boys I shouldn't mention." Stephanie turned in their direction, and Jackson and Max both scattered up the stairs.

Ramona could only sigh. "I hope you don't have a boy because I can't put up with this anymore." Then she she too headed up the stairs.

Stephanie hung out in her room for a while then wandered upstairs to find her sister. As expected, DJ was napping in her own room again (pregnancy seemed to exhaust her this time around). "Hey you," DJ murmured, cracking open her eyes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Don't even worry about it." DJ patted the bed and grinned at her younger sister. "Come sit," she encouraged.

Stephanie hesitated. "You sure? You look like you really need the sleep. Pregnancy's taking a lot out of you." And damn it, there was that guilt again.

"Don't you dare apologize again, Stephanie Judith. Come lay down with me."

"Why do you have to full name me, Donna Jo Margaret?" Stephanie grumbled even as she laid down on the bed next to her. She palmed her sister's stomach and grinned when the baby kicked. "You know your mommy, don't you? I can't wait to meet you, little one. Only a few more months to go into you're out in the real world with us."

DJ smiled as she listened to her sister talk to the baby. She would never regret being Stephanie's surrogate and would make sure to tell her sister that in a few months. "You're going to be a great mom."

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely." DJ had no doubts about that at all, especially after seeing Stephanie with the boys. It was going to be interesting to see her as a mom. The baby gave another hard kick and she winced but Stephanie chuckled. "Yeah, laugh it up. Just wait until this kid's a soccer player and you have to go to every game," she taunted.

"Stop trying to make me feel guilty, Deej. It's not working."

DJ's eyes started to flutter shut and Stephanie quieted down. She fell asleep within minutes of her sister, hand still on her stomach.

* * *

As DJ neared her due date, and Stephanie and Jimmy's panic began to increase, the rest of the family came to visit. "I'm so excited!" Becky told them as she watched Tommy and Pamela play.

"I'm happy for you, honey." Danny kissed the tops of DJ and Stephanie's heads, ignored Kimmy's plea to do the same for her, and then went to see what his other grandsons were up to.

"I'm proud of you. You were this tiny little kid when I first moved in and now you're about to become a mom. This is surreal. And I am not old," Jesse told Stephanie.

Stephanie just laughed at her uncle. "Of course you're not."

"Maybe you can name the baby after me?" he tried.

"No."

"Nobody's going to name their baby after you so you might as well stop trying," Becky told her husband.

"Hey!" he protested just as Pamela started calling for him.

The whole family sat down for dinner that night, aware that they'd soon be joined by someone new and the whole dynamic would change again. All of them couldn't wait to meet the newest Tanner.

Two days later, DJ went into labor, and Stephanie, Kimmy, and (an extremely reluctant) Jimmy went into the delivery room with her. Becky wanted to go in with them but it was already crowded enough in the room so she waited impatiently with the others.

They all stood up at once when Jimmy burst into the waiting room. "It's a girl! Seven pounds, four ounces. She's beautiful. And won't stop crying. My ears are ringing but that's totally okay!"

"I have a granddaughter!" Danny couldn't believe it - he had been expecting another grandson.

Becky squealed. "Can we meet her?"

"In a little while. DJ's exhausted, and we want to get to know the baby for a little while. Try to figure out who she is," Jimmy explained. He fist pumped. "I'm a dad!"

"Congratulations!" Danny shook his hand before pulling him in for a hug. He was now related to a Gibbler and Jimmy was likely going to be his future son-in-law so he to finally accept this bit of information.

They all filed into DJ's room about an hour or so later. Stephanie and Jimmy were cooing at their daughter, already in love with her. "So what's my niece's name?" Kimmy demanded.

Stephanie looked up at them with tears in her eyes. "Coming up with a name was easier than we thought it'd be," she explained.

"We just knew who she was," Jimmy added.

"Yeah, I'm pretty curious too. You kept us waiting for a long time. And I'm the one who gave birth to her! I deserved to know her name first." DJ grinned, itching to hold the baby again.

"Yeah, tell us," Danny urged.

"We would if you guys would shut up. Everyone in this room - and there's a lot of you - meet Margaret Rebecca Tanner-Gibbler. We're going to call her Maggie."

Becky did a double take. "Rebecca?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, you're the one who encouraged me to do this and was so supportive during the entire process. You mean the world to me, Aunt Becky." Both women teared up and hugged, minding the baby between them.

"I love you, Steph. And I love you too, Miss Maggie." Becky kissed the baby's forehead, grabbed a tiny finger, and held it for a few minutes.

Shortly afterwards, everyone headed home, leaving the new parents and DJ alone with Maggie. "I love you and Maggie more than I ever thought possible," Jimmy admitted.

"I love you too. I can't believe I have a baby with a Gibbler, though. Never expected that. This is my life now but I'm pretty happy with it." As she watched her boyfriend and daughter interact, Stephanie fell even more in love.

"This is likely the only time I'm ever going to have a girl so I'm going to enjoy the moment," DJ murmured to her sister.

Stephanie sat down on the bed and hugged her. "I'm never going to be able to thank you enough for doing this for me."

"You don't have to thank me, Steph. I just want to watch that little girl grow. And knowing I had a part in her existence is just a little surreal. Oh mylanta." She wrapped her arm around her sister and leaned against her, exhaustion catching up to her.

"Love you, Deej." Stephanie didn't know if she'd had been able to get through this past year without her sister by her side and she felt closer to her now.

"Love you too, Steph."

"We are going to rock parenthood. She's so tiny and adorable. And cries a lot but that's okay." Jimmy rocked Maggie back and forth, in awe of the newborn.

"You're the one who procreated with him," DJ murmured when she saw the look on Stephanie's face.

"No, that's not it. I'm going to marry him someday," Stephanie told her confidently.

"Wow. That's the first time I've ever heard you say that." DJ was so happy and proud of Stephanie.

And true to Stephanie's word, she and Jimmy married seven months later (she proposed). Maggie was right there with her parents as they exchanged vows. As the maid-of-honor, an emotional DJ made sure the wedding went off without a hitch. She and Stephanie's relationship was even better now that they had been through so much together. And Maggie and DJ also had a strong bond, something they always cherished.


End file.
